The toolbar contains the Create Production Job command [8] (Figure 2) and Send to [Name of the Printer] command [9] (Figure 2), which can be applied to the uploaded print data.

Once you have uploaded print data and made the desired settings, you can either start the transfer to the printer or simply create a production job. Proceed as follows:

1. Click Create Production Job [6] (Figure 2) in the toolbar to start uploading and processing the print items and then create a production job.
2. If you want to send the print data directly to the printer, click Send to [Name of the Printer] [7 ](Figure 2).
3. In both cases, the Quick Print dialog opens. Confirm the dialog by clicking Start Quick Print. The process for creating a production job and performing the further steps is started.

Figure 3: The Quick Print dialog for confirming the selected settings

In this area, you provide the print data to be processed and assign the required metadata:

• Upload Files [12] – add the files to be processed to the settings area. You can do this either
  • by dragging the files into the dropzone [18],
  • by clicking Upload Files [13] and then selecting the files, or
  • by clicking Choose Files [20].
• File List – for each uploaded file, a row containing a preview image and the current file information [16] is created. You can change the order of the rows by simply dragging the corresponding record using the handle [17]. The Split Multipage Files [19] checkbox is displayed as soon as a multipage print file has been added.
• Remove All [21] – click this icon to delete all uploaded print data.
• Remove [25] – click this icon to remove the corresponding entry from the list.
• Display Options [23] – use this function to specify which additional information and user-defined fields should be displayed for each entry in the list. The enabled input fields are then available in the metadata area [24]. This allows you to provide the print item with the required metadata, ensuring that nothing stands in the way of automated processing.

Figure 4: Left: The Upload Files settings area with files already added; Right: The Upload and Normalization Settings dialog and the Display Options for this area

Before you start the upload proccess, be sure to select the desired Check-in Preflight and Fixup Template. If metadata is to be extracted from the file name, you must also create and select an appropriate Template for extracting metadata.

• Upload and Normalization Settings [22] – select the desired Check-in Preflight and Fixup Template, as well as the approach to be used when checking the print data.
  • Check-in Preflight and Fixup Template [26] – select a template to determine the extent to which the print data is checked and normalized (fixed) accordingly. For information about the available options, see the Checks for Normalizing Print Data and Fixups for Normalizing Print Data articles.
    Note: Please note that not every license provides access to this function. For more information, contact your sales partner. However, at least two templates are available to all users. These templates provide a practical way of processing print data for digital printing and cannot be modified by users.
  • Preflight and fix the first page only [27] – if you enable this option, only the first page of the print file is checked and fixed. This helps avoid longer processing times when uploading the file.
    Note: Use this option only if you are 100% certain that all pages of the print file have the same page size, page orientation, and spot colors as the first page.
  • Preflight only (no correction) [28] – if you enable this option, the uploaded print data is only checked during the check-in process. Errors and warnings are detected and reported but are not automatically fixed by the selected Preflight and Fixup Template.
    Note: Use this option if it must be ensured that the original print data is not modified in any way. If errors or warnings are detected during the check, further processing is performed at your own risk. To ensure that print data can be processed correctly in the application, certain requirements must be met. The upstream systems are responsible for ensuring compliance with these requirements.
• Template for extracting metadata [14] – use this option to specify which metadata should be extracted from the file names of the uploaded print data and used for further proccessing. The selected template defines the rules for determining relevant metadata such as name, quantity, width, height, bleed, etc. The extracted data is automatically displayed in the input fields for the individual files.
  Note: You can create and manage templates under Administration > Settings > Extracting Metadata Templates. Please note that not every license provides access to this function. For more information, contact your sales partner.

In the Production Job [29] operation, you can define the parameters for the production job. The following options are available in this section:

• Job Name [30] – enter the name for the production job or production jobs here. The name can be defined freely or generated automatically using placeholders.
• Grouping Options [31] – select how the uploaded print data should be processed. The following options are available:
  • Keep all Print Items Together – creates a single production job containing all uploaded print data.
  • For every single-page and multipage Print Item – creates a separate production job for each uploaded print file.
  • For Each Print Item – creates a separate production job for each page of the uploaded print files.
• Output Settings [32] – select the desired output configuration. This defines the substrate and color policy used to process the print data, as well as the printer or destination to which the files are output. Click Edit [35] to manually modify the output configuration if required.
• Reset to Defaults [33] – resets the settings to their default values. This also resets the output configuration to the system-wide default color policy.
• Display Options [34] – optionally, you can add a comment and an external ID to the production job in addition to the job name. Enable the corresponding input fields by selecting the respective checkboxes.

Figure 5: Left: The Production Job Parameters settings area; Right: The Display Options and Add Output Configuration

The Impose [36] operation is optional. In this section, specify whether an impose should be created for the print items in the production job in addition to the production job itself. The following parameters are available in this section:

• Impose Mode [37] – select the desired mode. You can choose between Nesting, Step & Repeat, Tiling, Die Cut, and Bound Product.
  Important: If a mode is not available to you, this is due to the licensing of your application. For more information, contact your sales partner.
• Impose Template [38] – select the desired template. The impose template defines the layout for arranging the print items on the sheet.
• Plate Template [39] – select the desired template. Plate templates are used in conjunction with the Die Cut impose mode to define the gripper margin and, therefore, the non-printable area.
  Important: if this option is not available to you, this is due to the licensing of your application. For more information, contact your sales partner.
• Sheet Template [40] – select the desired template. Sheet templates essentially define the available area as well as the starting point and orientation of the impose.
• Print Item Template [41] – select the desired impose. Print item templates are generally used to define a white channel for print items or for double-sided output.
• Reset to Defaults [42] – resets the settings to their default values. The default setting is that no impose is created.
• Display Options [43] – optionally, you can display the other three selection fields in this section in addition to the impose mode and impose template fields. Enable the corresponding selection fields by selecting the respective checkboxes.

Figure 6: The settings area of the Impose operation

Das Information field [44] provides an overview of the key information taken over from the previous sections – the selected printer, destination, the substrate being used, and the impose mode. This allows users to review the configuration once again before starting the Quick Print.

Figure 7: The Information Field in Quick

The Quick Prints List [46] (Figure 8) consists of the filter- and sorting options and the Quick Prints list itself.

The filter- and sorting options allow you to search and filter the Quick Print list and change the order in which Quick Print jobs are displayed. The following options are available:

• Search [48] – enter a search term to filter the Quick Print list and display only entries whose name contains the entered search term.
• Quick Filters [49] – use predefined Quick Filters, which can be combined, to filter Quick Print jobs by their status. The following Quick Filters are available:
  • Processing – displays only Quick Print jobs that are currently being processed and have therefore not yet been completed.
  • User Interaction required – displays only Quick Print jobs that are currently paused and waiting for a decision or action from the user.
  • Success – displays only Quick Print jobs that have been completed successfully.
  • Error – displays only Quick Print jobs for which an error occurred during processing.
• Refresh [50] – use the Refresh function to reload the display. This retrieves the current status and latest information for the Quick Print jobs and displays them in the list. Normally, you do not need to refresh the list because information about changes is automatically pushed to the user interface. If change notifications are not received, you can refresh the list at any time using this function.
• Sort By [51] – use this option to determine the order in which Quick Print jobs are displayed in the Quick Print list. The following options are available:
  • Created – sorts the list based on the creation time.
  • Modified – sorts the list based on the modification time.
  • Name – sorts the list based on the name assigned in the Quick Print dialog (Figure 3).

Important: If no sorting criterion is selected, the list is sorted by the internal ID.

• Sort [52] – click this button to sort the list in ascending or descending order based on the selected sorting criterion.
• Bundle Size [53] – indicates how many files from this bundle have already been processed. Please note that Quick Print can only process print data as a bundle. This means that all print data must be fully processed before the corresponding production jobs can be created and sent to the printer.

Figure 9: The Print Items list section

In the Progress Display section, information is displayed as soon as an entry in the Quick Print list is selected. As long as a Quick Print job has the status Processing, the following information and options are available:

• Operations – for each print file, the operations that the file must go through are listed. Operations have both an icon and can be displayed in different colors. The following states are shown:
  • Checkmark [58] – indicates that the operation has been completed successfully.
  • Spinner [59] – indicates that the operation is currently being processed.
  • Circle [60] – indicates that the operation has not yet been executed.
  • Person – indicates that user interaction is required.
  • X – indicates that an error occurred during the operation.

The operations are color-coded using the traditional traffic-light colors – Red = error | Yellow = user interaction required | Green = processed successfully – as well as Gray for operations that are in progress or have not yet started processing.

• Start Time [54] – displays the start time of the automation job within a Quick Print job.
• Preview [55] and Copies [57] – display a preview of the print file and the specified number of copies to be processed for the print item.
• Go to Detail View [61] – click this button to go directly to the print item. If the print item is already part of a production job, users can either navigate to the print item view of the automation job or directly to the production job. To do this, click the arrow next to the icon. You can also switch to the detail view at any time by click the print item name [56].
• Delete [62] – deletes the print item (automation job) from the Quick Print job. The bundle size is automatically adjusted after the print item is deleted.
• Replace File [63] – allows you to replace a print item with a new print file. Use this option, for example, if you made a mistake when uploading the files and want to use a different file for production. Please note that the replacement file goes through the entire process again from the beginning.
• Retry [64] – allows you to process a canceled automation job again.
• Cancel [65] – cancels the automation job, causing the entire Quick Print job to be marked as failed.

Figure 10: The Progress Display section during processing

Once the Quick Print job has been processed, the following information and functions are available:

• Processing Time [66] – displays the start and end times as well as the total processing time (gross duration, including all idle times caused by the user interaction or system overload). This information allows you to quickly determine whether the print data being processed is relatively complex or whether manual interaction has extended the overall processing time.
• Create Production Job [67] – click this icon to create a production job again for the selected Quick Print job. This function is particularly useful if a Quick Print job end with an error. It allows you to transfer the current state to a production job and then resolve the issue manually within the production job. Most importantly, the entire bundle of files is transferred to a single production job.
• Delete [68] – click this icon to delete the selected Quick Print job, including all print items it contains. Only the entry is removed from the Quick Prints History. The production jobs created in the process naturally remain.
  Important: This action cannot be undone!

Figure 11: The Progress Display section after processing has been completed